Wake Forest Athletics
Weekly Football Press Conference Video & Quotes
9/6/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 6, 2011
Head Coach Jim Grobe
On the status of Tanner Price's injury...
"He has practiced, and I think he's going to be fine by Saturday. I think we're very fortunate that he wasn't hurt worse than he was. I think it may have scared him a little bit more than it hurt him. I think he was really concerned because he's had an ACL (tear) before, but he seems to be doing fine right now, and hopefully by Saturday he'll be full speed and ready to roll."
On the play of Tanner Price against Syracuse...
"I thought Tanner (Price) played really well in the game. He missed a couple of short easy throws but threaded it a few times and looked pretty good. He ran the offensive side of our football team really well and played really good football up until he got hurt."
On the morale of the team after last week's loss...
"I think it's good. We just have good guys on our football team. We're very disappointed that we lost, and we hopefully learned a lesson. I hope that we learned to overcome adversity a little better. When Tanner went down, our guys didn't handle that very well. We were in really good position to win a football game, and we let it slip away. Our guys I think need to understand that there's going to be a little bit of adversity in every game, and we have to keep fighting and find a way to get it done."
On the receiving corps...
"One thing Chris (Givens) did for us the other night is ran and caught the football pretty well. He did a really good job receiving. I think he needs to block a little bit better. We ask our guys to help each other out and block some. (Michael Campanaro) did some really good things. He did a nice job catching punts for us. Hopefully they'll continue to improve, but both of those kids played pretty good the other night."
On starting conference play...
"It's a little bit tough starting early in conference. Most coaches if you had your way would like to play two or three non-conference games before you got into the leg, but it is what it is, and we have to play a pretty good NC State team that is coming off of a win to start the season. We know they'll come in with a lot of confidence. It's going to be a really big challenge for our football team, playing a really talented Wolfpack team."
On what he's seen on tape about NC State...
"A lot of the same things that we saw last year. They're very talented at all the skill positions and they play really aggressive football. Tom (O'Brien) and his staff do a great job. It's a well-coached football team. (Mike Glennon) runs their offense really well. You can tell that he's comfortable. He's a big kid and he sees the receivers really well. For a guy that hasn't been a regular starter, he's shown a lot of poise in the first game. He's one of those guys who you would expect to improve every week."
Sophomore Quarterback Tanner Price
On his opinion on the team after Thursday's game at Syracuse ...
"I think we're a much different team this year. We did a lot of successful things Thursday. We just have to finish games."
On throwing to his group of wide receivers...
"The receivers really stepped up Thursday night and played a great game. The receivers were catching everything I was throwing their way. I was really proud of the way they were playing."
On what the team needs to improve for this week against NC State ...
"The big thing for this week is that we play four quarters of football. We played three and a half quarters last week and we cannot do that if we want to win games and be a successful team."
Junior Linebacker Scott Betros
On the morale of the team...
"The morale has stayed high. We have very good leaders this year who are determined to not allow this team to become negative. They're going to keep us positive and keep us wanting to win. Our coaches have said that all along and it's very important to us."
On NC State quarterback Mike Glennon...
"He performed well last Saturday. It's going to be a tough game; they're a good offense with a lot of good players, so we have to go out there and win. Mike has a strong arm and he's a good leader. Every week is a challenge for our defense, but we have a veteran defense. Hopefully we can get the job done."
On the 10-year home winning streak against NC State...
"Every game is important, especially every home game. You don't want someone to come into your house and beat you in front of your fans. As a conference game, it's very important and we want to win."
Senior Tight End Cameron Ford
On the morale after a tough loss...
"It was really a tough one, but I think the thing that is different between this year's team and last year is that when we have a loss we're going to learn from it and come out and expect to win the next week. We're going into this game with our heads held high and going to give it our best shot."
On the play of Tanner Price during the first three quarters...
"Tanner was putting the ball on the money every time. It's a real confidence booster when your quarterback is out there making the hard throws, stepping up in the pocket and just throwing it to the guys like that."
Senior Running Back Brandon Pendergrass
On how everybody is holding up after a tough loss...
"Everybody is holding up pretty well. We have a resilient group of players and everybody is holding up. We're just ready to get out there this week and compete for a win."
On how good the offense looked during the first three quarters last week...
"That's our goal - just to go out and play to the best of our abilities. Obviously at the end we let it slip away, but for three quarters we held our own. Hopefully we can just learn how to finish."
